Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services.

SS&C Technologies Finishes Another Great Year

Shares of the financial services technology company jumped after another strong quarterly report.

Shares of SS&C Technologies Holdings (NASDAQ:SSNC) jumped nearly 8% Thursday, touching a fresh 52-week high after the investment management technology specialist reported strong fourth-quarter 2016 results. It's been a busy year for SS&C, punctuated by several significant acquisitions that have positioned the company for continued success.

Let's take a closer look at how SS&C Technologies finished 2016.

IMAGE SOURCE: SS&C Technologies.

SS&C Technologies results: The raw numbers

Metric

Q4 2016

Q4 2015

Year-Over-Year Growth

GAAP revenue

$400.9 million

$300.9 million

33.2%

GAAP net income

$57.0 million

$12.1 million

371.1%

GAAP earnings per share (diluted)

$0.28

$0.06

366.7%

Data source: SS&C Technologies.

What happened with SS&C this quarter?

On an adjusted (non-GAAP) basis -- which includes $3.7 million in purchase accounting adjustments to deferred revenue related to acquisitions -- revenue increased 24.2% year over year, to $404.6 million.

Adjusted net income increased 29.3% year over year, to $95.2 million, and adjusted net income per diluted share grew 27.8%, to $0.46.

These results compare favorably to SS&C's guidance provided last quarter that called for fourth-quarter revenue of $394 million to $403 million, adjusted net income of $89.4 million to $92.4 million, and adjusted net income per share of $0.43 to $0.44.

Adjusted recurring subscription revenue grew 24.9% year over year, to $368.5 million, including 38.4% growth in software-enabled services revenue, to just over $257.7 million, and 1.7% growth in maintenance and term license revenue, to just over $110.7 million.

Looking ahead

For the current quarter, SS&C expects revenue of $402.5 million to $408.5 million and adjusted net income of $89 million to $92.5 million, with the latter range equating to adjusted net income per share in the range of roughly $0.43 to $0.45.

SS&C also introduced guidance for the full year of 2017, calling for adjusted revenue of $1.655 billion to $1.685 billion, cash from operations of $480 million to $500 million, and adjusted net income of $392 million to $409 million. Full-year adjusted net income per diluted share should be roughly $1.88 to $1.96. When you consider SS&C's history of under promising and over delivering, these ranges are roughly in line with analysts' consensus estimates.

Given SS&C Technologies' healthy combination of organic and acquisitive growth, continued outperformance (relative to both guidance and Wall Street's expectations) to end 2016, and its encouraging outlook for the coming year, it's no surprise to see investors bidding up the company's stock today.

Author

As a technology and consumer goods specialist for the Fool, Steve looks for responsible businesses that positively shape our lives. Then he invests accordingly. Enjoy his work? Connect with him on Twitter & Facebook so you don't miss a thing.